Early Baseball History One of the leading players in major league baseballs beginnings, George Bechtel joined the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association - baseball's first professional league - in 1871. A solid batsman during the dead ball era, he excelled on defense in right field, and also, was a well-regarded pitcher. A career .278 hitter, Bechtel hit a career-best .319 in his first pro season, 1871, for the Philadelphia Athletics. He signed with the New York Mutuals for a higher salary in 1872, batted .302 and scored 64 runs in the team's 54 game schedule.

After going 3-1 W/L on the pitching mound for the 1875 Athletics, he signed in early-season with their cross-town rivals - the Philadelphia Centennials - but managed to post a poor 2-12 record for the lousy hitting team. He also played in the National League in its first year of existence - 1876... George Bechtel career stats: National Association: .278 BA, 276 hits in 204 Games, 214 Runs... Pitching 7-21 W/L... National League: .200 BA in 1876...

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Pitching Statistics

Year

Team

G

GS

W

L

SV

CG

SHO

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

IBB

SO

WP

HBP

BK

ERA

1871

ATH (NA)

3

3

1

2

0

2

0

26.0

43

42

23

0

11

0

1

0

0

0

7.96

1873

PHI (NA)

3

2

0

2

0

1

0

16.0

27

24

8

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

4.50

1874

PHI (NA)

6

4

1

3

0

4

0

42.0

64

42

18

0

0

0

13

0

0

0

3.86

1875

CEN (NA)

14

14

2

12

0

14

0

126.0

170

138

55

0

3

0

12

0

0

0

3.93

1875

ATH (NA)

4

4

3

1

0

4

0

36.0

45

19

9

0

3

0

12

0

0

0

2.25

8 years

30

27

7

20

0

25

0

246.0

349

265

113

0

19

0

38

0

0

0

4.13

Batting Statistics

Year

Team

G

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

CS

IBB

HBP

SH

SF

AVG

OBP

SLG

1871

ATH (NA)

20

94

24

33

9

1

1

21

2

2

4

0

0

0

0

0

.351

.365

SLG

1872

NYU (NA)

51

248

60

74

11

2

0

41

6

3

9

1

0

0

0

0

.298

.315

SLG

1873

PHI (NA)

53

258

53

63

12

1

1

40

9

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

.244

.270

SLG

1874

PHI (NA)

32

151

29

42

4

5

1

34

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.278

.288

SLG

1875

CEN (NA)

14

61

12

17

5

0

0

7

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.279

.290

SLG

1875

ATH (NA)

35

164

33

46

6

2

0

20

1

3

2

0

0

0

0

0

.280

.285

SLG

1876

NYU (NL)

2

10

2

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.300

.300

SLG

1876

LOU (NL)

14

55

2

10

1

0

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.182

.182

SLG

8 years

221

1041

215

288

48

11

3

165

21

12

17

2

0

0

0

0

.277

.291

.SLG

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